Look Younger #3 - Glowy Cheeks

Time to get your glow on! Forget powder blush this time of year. Instead reach for cream blush. It gives cheeks a healthy glow that will make your cheekbones stand out more and give you a mini face lift, since the glow from the cream blush draws the eyes upward. Dont have cream blush? Use lipstick! After applying your daily moisturizer, rub a bit of color into your cheeks. Instant uplift!

Got Scalp Problems?

Don't worry your not alone. About half of my clients have scalp problems this time of year. Try one of these tricks to help your scalp:

1) Don't skip your conditioner. In the winter your hair and scalp need double, to triple, the amount of moisture than they need the rest of the year. Use matching Shampoo and conditioner for the most balanced pH and rub the conditioner on your scalp.

2) Rub aloe gel onto your scalp at night and wash in the morning.

3) Soak your scalp with olive, avocado, or coconut oil for ten min before you shampoo.

4) Buy Aveda's Scalp Balancing shampoo and conditioner. They work great to solve many scalp issues. (P.s. They have to be used together for correct results)
p.s. I love my new red color! ~Liza

TREND in HAIR COLOR

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What is HOT in hair color right now?
Copper and Cinnamon and Deep Maple.
These colors do wonders to warm up and
give a glow to pale dry winter skin!!
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WINTER HAIR

Most of my clients have been coming in to the salon frustrated with their winter hair. Their hair is limp, dry, fuzzy and splitting! It takes longer to dry and it refuse to straighten or curl! If these are problems you are having, then keep reading!

1) Put your summer shampoo and conditioner on the shelf and switch to a more moisturizing shampoo and conditioner.

2) After you have washed your hair, but before your hair is dry, scrunch a moisturizing creme into your hair. The product that is flying off our shelf's right now is: Universal Styling Creme (Aveda).

Universal Styling Creme is a super condensed, super yummy smelling moisturizer that gives straight and curly hair back its shine and bounce! Bonus: because it is so condensed the bottle last for a long time. (for thin, fine hair, use about a pea size amount, for average hair try a dime size amount and add more as needed)

p.s. When using a moisturizing creme, avoid or go light, in the 'bang area' as this area gets oily easily. ~Liza

Thicker Mens' Hair

Want your man to have thicker looking hair?
Buy him Aveda's Grooming Clay designed for men!
It bulks up hair strands while giving moldable hold to any short haircut.

GOT STATIC?

Sick of your hair floating around your head? What you need is moisture!

Go easy on the hairspray and avoid spraying perfume on your strands as both will dry them out even more. Instead add a styling cream or straightening serum to your hair when it is damp and before you blowdry. In a pinch? Rub a little hand lotion all over your hands and then rub your hands down your head. The wax and/or oils in the hand lotion will tame the flyaways!

p.s Aveda's just came out with a super light Texturizing Creme that works great on fine hair to smooth fly-aways and tame fuzzy ends. (it can be applied to damp or dry hair)

HOW TO: Curl Your Hair With A Flat Iron

Check this out! Its a clear, well explained, video on how to curl your hair with your flat iron:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpl9KYzmJ6s

Reminder: always use a 'heat protector' before applying any iron to your hair (round or flat). It will help the hair hold the shape ironed into it and prevent fried, fuzzy hair.

I found a great deal on Amazon for the 'hot sauce' used on the video:
http://www.amazon.com/FHI-Sauce-2-fluid-ounces-Bottle/dp/B002ZNJJ8E/ref=pd_sim_hpc_6

BOX COLOR -For whom?

Here's a few bit of info about Box Color. Use at your own risk =)

1) Box Color is designed for white hair. The color they show on the box is the color your hair will look after applied; if your hair is white to begin with. If not....no guarantees.

2) Box Color has ground metals in it to preserve it while it sits on the shelf. Its like rubbing ground metal into your hair. With each use your hair strands may get thinner or rougher.

3) Box Color is made to penetrate all hair types, even very stubborn white coarse hair. Meaning the chemical content in most box colors is much stronger than we would ever mix for a client.

4) Because of its strong chemical level, Box Color can be incredibly hard to remove from hair. If you have light colored hair and you go darker with a Box Color, a stylist needs to use stronger chemicals to lift out the color.

5) Box Color (after repeated applications) may not look natural. Why?
a) With repeated use the color at the roots will appear lighter than the color at the tips of the hair. 'Natural' looking hair should be darkest at the root and lightest on the ends. (This can be avoided by only recoloring your regrowth and not painting thru the already colored hair.)
b) Box Color will not usually lighten hair to a neutral color. It often lightens it to a orange/ brassy color. This it because most box color is not designed to lighten hair.

6) Who should never use box color? Women with thin hair because it will make the hair thinner and more delicate. Who is the best candidate for Box Color? Women (or men) with medium to thick, coarse, mostly (or all) white hair. But if you get a goofy color - go see a professional! =)

Tight on funds and need color? Try a foil instead of a color -it can camouflage gray and has no outgrowth line -so you can space your salon visits a little further apart. Or if your really on a tight budget, try an ammonia free, rinse or color, close to your natural color.

p.s. If you do come in for color and you have used box color in the past -PLEASE tell your stylist! (We can usually tell anyways =) and it helps us formulate a more chemically appropriate formula for your hair, so that you have happy healthy hair. ~Liza

Look younger #2 - Winter Skin

Is your skin feeling dry, itchy or cracked? Take an Olive Oil bath! Your skin will feel great! Its easy: Pour 1/4 cup of olive oil into a hot bath. Enjoy! To relieve mental stress, and to smell extra good, add a few drops of your favorite scented oil. p.s. thank you Jasmine for reminding me how great these baths are. ~Liza

911 for Damaged Hair

For those of us that use blow-dryers, flat irons, curling irons, get highlights and/or color, ...our hair takes a beating!!!

If your hair is a frazzled, dry, split, fuzzy mess, its time to take some serious action to save your hair! And yes, it can be saved. Cutting it shorter, helps stop split ends, but doesn't solve the real problem. Strengthening and replenishing your hair, so that it doesn't dissolve away, is the key.

1) Shampoo n' Conditioner. If you can only afford two good hair products, spend it on good shampoo and good conditioner! The wrong shampoo and conditioner can make matters much, much, much worse, or even be the cause of the problem! (read: October blog on 'Cheap Shampoo' and November blog on 'Conditioner Makes a Difference!').
For damaged hair, look for a combo designed to strengthen with proteins. Products with protein may cost more, but protein is the only ingredient that can truly rebuild each strand and give it the strength to withstand heat.
For seriously damaged hair try Aveda's Smooth Infusion shampoo and conditioner or Bumble and Bumble's Damage Therapy treatment set. I have seen amazing results with both. For slightly damaged hair and a more affordable option, Alba sells great sets, with conditioners that contain soy protein. If you already have a high quality shampoo and conditioner but just need to add protein try Aveda's Damage Remedy Mask or Bumble and Bumble's Damage Therapy Mask. IMPORTANT: Once hair has been strengthened with proteins, take a break from protein mask or any intense protein treatments.

2) Leave-in Conditioner. If you use heat of any kind, a leave-in conditioner should be considered (this is in addition to the normal conditioner used in the shower.) It will protect and moisturize the hair strands, add shine and smoothness to the ends and stop static. When heat is used on hair it sucks moisture out of the hair strand. A leave-in conditioner acts as a barrier between the heat and your hair. That way, the product gets sucked out of the hair when heat is applied. Leave-in conditioners are also called; styling creams, smoothing lotions, straightening gels and a variety of other things.

3) Iron Protection. Damp hair should NEVER be ironed. Every time you put an iron on your hair, a heat-protection spray should be used. The heat of the iron steams out moisture and destroys the protein cells that the hair is composed of. Heat-protection products, work by coating the hair, thus protecting the protein cells and lightly lubricating the hair strands. If you use irons, buy a heat protection spray! In this case, a cheap protection, is better than no protection.
The best heat protection spray I have used is GHD's Thermal Protector (it comes in two options: thin-normal hair or normal-thick hair.) or Aveda's Damage Control works well too.

4) Tools.
-- Round brush's with metal cores can act like irons, consider switching to one with a ceramic core and natural bore bristles.
-- Blow-dryers should ideally have mulitple heat settings so that you can set it at medium temperature and not use the high heat settings. (Try sucking out most of the water from the hair with paper towels before you blow dry if your in a rush.) The more powerful your blow-dryer is, the faster the air blows out of it and the quicker your hair will dry. Look for a turbo of at least 1800 watts.
-- Flat irons / Styling irons (looks like a flat iron but straightens and curls) are all very different from one another. Without getting into a lot of details... you get what you pay for. The cheap irons often burn hair and take longer to straighten. Quality ones have a better heat bed and thus get your hair straighter and smoother faster. Most stylists use GHD's 1 inch Styling Iron. CHI is also a good brand.
-- Curling irons are made very similar to one another, cheap or expensive, doesn't really matter.
Damaged hair can be saved! But it takes a little pampering. Love your hair! ~Liza